


Tested

by TiffanyF



Category: Emergency!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-04
Updated: 2014-10-04
Packaged: 2018-02-19 21:43:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2403935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiffanyF/pseuds/TiffanyF
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captain Hank Stanley is stressing out about the Chiefs test. Mike Stoker notices and asks the important questions. Hank pays attention because of how rare it is to hear one speech from his quiet Engineer - let alone two. </p>
<p>Do not own, claim, or possess. No money is made here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tested

**Author's Note:**

> Italics at the beginning are dialogue from the show that inspired this. Wish I could find the blood episode so I could put it in here for a tag.
> 
> Might end up with more chapters. Going to leave it open for now. Not that I need a new WIP or anything. *rolls eyes*

_“Kelly, what are you doing?"_  
“ _Polishing the nozzle, Cap.”_  
 _“On Henry!?”_  
 _“Well why not? It works, and Henry seems to like it.”_  
 _“It’s not in the book. And if it isn’t in the book then there must be something wrong with it. If the fire department wanted us to polish nozzles on the dog, they’d have put it in the book, wouldn’t they? Polishing nozzles on the dog?”_  
 _“Boy, how long until the Chief’s test?”_  
 _“We’ve got another month.”_

 

Mike Stoker figured he was the only one that noticed Captain Stanley took the carton of milk with him when he went back to his office after lecturing Chet about not polishing nozzles on their basset hound. Normally he would have let things go, but Mike needed the milk to make lunch for everyone. He slipped out of the day room, leaving Chet and Marco to their friendly ribbing, and knocked on the door to the Captains’ office.

“Go away.”

He slipped into the room and shut the door behind him. “Cap.”

Hank looked up from his books. “Oh, Mike, sorry. I thought it was going to be Chet wanting to talk to me about something,” he said. “What do you need?”

“The milk. You took the last carton and I need it to make lunch.”

A faint wince passed over Hank’s face. “That was the last of the milk?”

Mike sat down and leaned forward. “Why are you taking the Chiefs test, Cap?” he asked softly.

“What?”

“I’m just curious why you’re taking the test now,” Mike said.

“Why would anyone take a promotion test?” Hank asked.

“That’s the thing, I don’t think that your heart is really in this,” Mike said. “I think you think you have to take the test for a reason that isn’t true.”

“Mike, what the hell are you talking about?”

“These tests are stressful, but even if you don’t pass highly enough to get a promotion, you still have your job,” Mike said. “Everyone progresses through the department at different speeds and wants to take the tests at different times. I’ve thought about taking my Captains exam twice, but it’s not my time to advance yet. I want to drive for a few more years before I take that step. I think that you’re pushing yourself unfairly to do something that you’re not fully prepared to do.”

“Mike, are you saying that you don’t think I can pass this test?” Hank demanded, voice rising.

“No, of course not. You’re certainly smart enough to pass, and you know your job backwards,” Mike said. “You’re probably the best Captain I’ve worked with in my career, but I’ve noticed a few things these past weeks, Cap. You’re not sleeping properly. All you do is study. You’ve pushed your men away from you so they don’t interrupt your study time. You’re stressed. You’re obsessed. You’re also drinking all the milk we have in the station any time we’re on shift. You do know that milk doesn’t really do much for sour stomachs, right?”

Hank leaned back in his chair and studied the man across from him for a long minute. Mike Stoker almost never spoke, so such a long speech from him meant something. “So what do you think the answer is?” he asked.

“Study and learn the material like you did for your Captains test,” Mike said. “Take a year or two and learn this material as well as you know your job right now. Then go in and take your test, and you’ll pass it within the top ten of testers. You could go now, but you might not place highly enough to get a position, then you would just stress more because you would want to know where it was you failed. Right now, Cap, the only thing you’re doing is pushing your people away from you, making them afraid to come talk to you, and making yourself sick. You need to take a step back and answer the question I asked you when I came in here. Why are you taking this test now? I’ll figure out something else for lunch.”

Mike left the office as quietly as he’d entered. Hank honestly wondered how his engineer was so silent, not just in moving around the station, but also around his shiftmates. Mike almost never spoke without being spoken to, unless they were in the field working, and then he would relay information calmly and just fast enough to meet the sense of urgency any working fire warranted. With a sigh, Hank closed the book in front of him and leaned back in his chair. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Mike had noticed everything perfectly, just like he always did. It was enough to make Hank believe that, one day, a shift wouldn’t be able to get away with anything because Mike would see every single thing they did. After getting such a long and insightful speech from Mike Stoker, Hank knew that he had to really think about the questions posed to him and come up with honest answers. It wouldn’t be fair to do anything else.  
*~*

Mike was out on his back porch reading when a car pulled in next to his truck. He wasn’t a man that encouraged visitors, but he recognized the car, and put his book to the side to go and greet his Captain. “Are you okay, Cap?”

“Yeah, I think so, anyway,” Hank said. “Sorry to just drop in uninvited, but I was out driving around while I was thinking and came up with some answers to the questions you asked me at the station. Thought I’d stop by and share them, if you’re not busy.”

“Just reading. Come on in,” Mike said. “Would you like something to drink?”

“Water would be great,” Hank said. “You’re right about the timing, Mike. Back when I was an engineer, I worked with Chief McConnikee, and things weren’t great between us.”

Mike came back out of the kitchen with two glasses of water, and sat down on the sofa next to Hank. “According to rumor, that’s an understatement,” he said, handing Hank one of the glasses.

“I was trying to get transferred out,” Hank admitted. “There’s no malicious intent behind it. Nothing really happened, just a clash of personalities that made work hell. Imagine how you would feel working with a Captain that questioned your every move, Mike. You know you can do your job, be the second for the shift if needed, but to have all of that constantly questioned. It made me question myself so badly that I finally just snapped one day and didn’t give a damn if I still had a job or not.”

“He transferred you?”

“No, I’d already passed my Captains test and was up for posting,” Hank said. “McConnikee was at his worst that day, making me question everything worse than anything he’d done before and I snapped. That’s the only thing I can think of. It’s also when I decided that I would never give my men, when I got my own shift, a reason to hate me like I hated him.”

“You went your way, he went his,” Mike said. “Until he transferred back in and became our Chief.”

“And started up right where he’d left off, but worse because of the whole hat mess,” Hank said. He finally looked over and met Mike’s eyes. “It’s made me paranoid, Mike. I never know what he’s going to say or do and I find myself trying to make him happy when I know that is never going to happen no matter how much I might want it. So I thought I would just escape again, but I hadn’t realized how close the deadline is for the tests.”

Mike nodded. “So you made yourself sick by stressing over how much there was to learn to pass the tests, thinking it was your only chance to escape him again,” he said softly. “I can’t say that I’ve ever really spent much time with him, but Chief McConnikee seems like he knows his job.”

“He does. He deserves to be a Chief. I’m not saying that he doesn’t,” Hank said. “I’m just saying that in trying to escape him again, I’ve hurt my men, and I didn’t mean to do that. Thank you for finally calling me on it. I don’t think anyone else on the shift would have been brave enough to interrupt me while I was studying.”

“Roy would have,” Mike said with a small smile. “I’m just glad you took the time to think, Cap. I stand by what I said. Study for a couple of years and you will become one of the best Chiefs in the department.”

“The only reason I started thinking was because you talked to me, Mike. You never say anything that involved at work, and it not only caught my attention, but it got me thinking,” Hank said. “You’re going to be a great Captain yourself one of these days.”

Mike shrugged. “I might, but I’ll have to talk, and I’m not that great with words,” he said. “I’m happy where I am, driving the rig. I’ll see what the next few years bring me.”

“Sometimes silence is a more powerful teaching tool than words are, Mike,” Hank said. “I think that’s something I forget a lot of the time.”

“I’ll remind you,” Mike said. “I’m there to help you, Cap. I can only help as much as you’ll let me though.”

“Maybe I should start letting you do a little more, get you ready to be a Captain,” Hank said. “There’s some stuff you can do for me that you need to learn before you become a Captain that isn’t in any of the tests. I had to learn it the hard way, because my Captain never gave me a chance to learn.”

“I’ll learn anything you want to teach me, Cap,” Mike said. He glanced at his watch. “Would you like to stay for lunch? It’s sandwiches.”

“I can’t impose.”

“You’re not,” Mike said with a smile. “I won’t force you, but you need to eat more than you have been, Cap. Otherwise you’re going to be in trouble at your next physical.”

Hank laughed. “All right, all right, I know when I’m beat,” he said. “Thanks, Mike.”

“Any time, Cap.”  
*~*

“Do you ever get tired of seeing the sun set on the water?” Hank asked later that evening. The pair had lunch out on the back deck and then spent the afternoon talking about work and a few personal observations about their shiftmates that they wouldn’t willingly share with anyone else.

“No, it’s always different depending on the day, and always beautiful,” Mike replied. “This was my uncle’s place and he left it to me when he died. I’ve always loved it here.”

“I can see why,” Hank said. He glanced at his watch. “Mike, I can’t invite myself to dinner. I really should go.”

Mike looked over. “Only if you really want to,” he said. “I have plenty of food to share, Cap.”

Hank swallowed hard at the look that flickered through Mike’s eyes. “Is food the only thing on offer?” he finally whispered.

“If that’s what you want, Cap,” Mike replied softly.

“No,” Hank managed.

Mike pushed out of his chair and moved to sit on the edge of the lounge chair Hank was using. “Are you sure?” he asked, reaching out towards Hank’s cheek.

“Yes.”

“Stop me if you feel uncomfortable,” Mike whispered, leaning in. He brushed his lips against Hank’s and pulled back enough to look at the older man’s face. “Why do you look so nervous?”

“I’ve never done this before,” Hank admitted, cheeks turning pink.

“We can move as slow as you want to, Hank,” Mike said. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to the side of Hank’s mouth. “If it takes you a while to get comfortable with me being this close to you, then we’ll take that time.”

Hank snickered and looked down as his hands. “I think I’ve heard you talk more today then I’ve heard in a year, Mike,” he said. “I want this, I do. I just don’t know what to do.”

“We start here and we see where it goes,” Mike said. “The pace is up to you. I’ll always be there to support you, Hank. Please don’t ever forget that.”

“I won’t,” Hank said. He pulled the younger man in for a hug and looked back out at the now dark water. He wasn’t sure about the direction his life would be taking as he studied for and eventually passed the Chiefs exam, but he wanted Mike there with him for it all. Hank wasn’t sure when he first realized that, but he knew he would be foolish to ignore the truth any longer. With his engineer was where he belonged, and he would make sure that they were able to face the future together.


End file.
